Jeff Thompson: Here's the dirt on particulates

12:45 PM,
Aug. 17, 2013

View of Reno on Saturday morning, Aug. 17, 2013.

Written by

Jeff Thompson

With our daily smoke, you may have heard terms like "particulates," or "PM." Many times, media outlets use lingo like this without explaining it. I had two people ask me about the difference between PM 10 and PM 2.5.

Particulates or particulate matter (PM) are tiny bits of solids or liquids suspended in the air. This stuff can come from many sources, from vehicle exhaust to road dust. In the current case, the culprit is wood ...